Rome 17 February 2015
For the Italian-French joint venture ATR, 2014 was a record year - the best year ever since the programme was first launched in 1981. A year of great success in terms of orders, deliveries, revenues and order backlog.
In 2014, ATR sold 160 aircraft, along with 120 options, exceeding the previous 2011 record with 157 aircraft sold and 79 options and totalling approximately half the total sales of regional aircraft sector with below 90-seat capacity for the year. Turnover of 1.8 billion dollars was clearly bettered (1.6 billion in 2013) and for 2015, ATR hopes to further increase business in order to approach the ambitious target of 2 billion dollars, thanks to the delivery levels forecast. 83 aircraft were delivered as compared with the 74 in 2013 and this trend is set to continue in 2015, with a peak that should exceed 100 aircraft in 2016. The commercial success of the year just ended has been confirmed by an order book of 280 aircraft - a level never reached until now and which ensures the Italian-French manufacturer three years of production for a value of 6.8 billion dollars. Since the start of the programme, ATR has sold 1,470 aircraft (470 ATR 42s and 1000 ATR 72s) and delivered 1190 aircraft (436 ATR 42s and 754 ATR 72s).
2014 also marked the acquisition of the largest cumulative order ever obtained by ATR, with a contract that brings the number of firm aircraft orders from the Indonesian airline Lion Air to one hundred. ATR also reached a major milestone in with the signing of the 1000th order for the ATR 72 which will fly the flag of Airlines PNG, the Papua New Guinea airline.
ATR's excellent performance in 2014 provides confirmation of just how far the range of regional turboprop engines has become the undisputed world reference among regional airlines and aircraft leasing companies. Their low operating costs, reliability and versatility, together with their small environmental footprint and value retention over time make the ATRs the preferred aircraft of short-haul network operators.
And to better quantify its capacity to stand close to its customers, in 2014 ATR pursued its growth to ensure worldwide representation, establishing new partnerships for pilot training in Bangkok and Bogota and signing new aircraft maintenance contracts that today ensure that nearly two ATR-600s out of three in service are covered by this type of agreement with the manufacturer. ATR will continue to expand its global network in 2015 with the opening of a sales representation office in Tokyo and a new spare parts center in Sao Paulo, in Brazil.